According to Shell Oil Co. president, John Hofmeister, the oil industry should not be held responsible for steeping prices of gasoline. He further added that America must produce more domestic oil despite the fact that biofuels and other alternative sources of energy are developing at a rapid rate.
In an alternative-fuels conference in Sacramento Mr. John Hofmeister said that: “We see no alternative” in the short term, in his keynote speech to the Low Carbon Fuels conference.
He supported the benefits of a new type of ethanol and other futuristic fuels and also delivered a message in favor of conventional fuel, suggesting: Fuel forms such as crude oil will continue to lead the market in the future.
He further added if oil companies like Shell are not permitted to produce oil from domestic sources, the industry will be left with only one option. This option, importing oil into the US, will eventually lead to high prices.
However, critics have been blaming the oil companies for record profits, Hofmeister said oil companies cannot be held responsible for prices that reach all time high national average of $3.37 a gallon for self-serve regular this week.
He also said that the high price of crude, which closed at $111.76, Monday on New York Mercantile Exchange, is the major cause of concern. Crude prices are responsible for some 70 percent of gasoline price, according to him.
Hofmeister added that America must expand its alternative oil resources and extract more oil at the same time. In fact, if domestic extraction doesn’t speed up, millions of Americans will face ever increasing fuel prices.